Skip to main content

For Find Out Friday - How Can a Burger Be Impossible?





If you have a tv chances are you have seen the commercial featuring Burger King’s latest product, the Impossible Whopper. 

This is the first plant based menu item this fast food chain is offering. Quite frankly I am surprised it took this long in a land where their customers are likely celebrating Meatless Mondays and eating gluten-free snacks.

Yesterday, after seeing the commercial several hundred times, I bought my first one. It was pretty good although I have had better veggie and other non-meat burgers. My personal favorite is a falafel patty. 

But more than anything what I want to know is why so many plant-based burgers are called ‘impossible”? Is it because we cannot possibly believe that it is not beef? That it tastes so similar?

Let’s find out.

The answer begins with a man named Patrick O. Brown who has both an M.D. and a Ph.D. He is the founder of a company called Impossible Foods which was established in 2011. The mission statement behind this company was to aim to make meat, diary, and fish products directly from plants. 

According to Dr. Brown he began with a simple question: “What makes meat taste like meat?” The characteristics people associate with meat such as the smell, texture, and of course taste, are qualities that Impossible Foods wanted to be able to replicate in it’s foods. That research seems to have been extensive.

It wasn’t until 2016, that Impossible Foods launched its first product: the Impossible Burger. Today it can be found in over fifteen hundred restaurants all over the world, including, you guessed it, Burger King.

As of 2019 there have been two additional versions of the Impossible Burger. There is some debate on the true health benefits of these soy based patties due to the oils, high sodium, and other ingredients needed to make them meat adjacent. 

Depending on where you purchase them, they may not even be vegan or truly vegetarian as many assume they are. Some even suggest that real meat, especially chicken or turkey, offer more health benefits than their fake counterparts.

I suppose that is a personal decision everyone needs to make for themselves.

As for me, I find it fascinating that one man’s mission has created a truly impossibly new marketplace. 

But as with most food, I prefer it to be homemade. That way there is no debate as to what is in it. I plan to try to make my own version of black bean burgers soon. Who knows maybe I too will be popping up in restaurants nationwide.


For More Information:





Comments

Popular posts from this blog

For Find Out Friday - Why Do Emery Boards Make My Skin Crawl?

You know that sound a fingernail makes when it scratches against a chalkboard?  You know that feeling the sound of that action gives you? I, like most people, hate that sound.  I instantly feel like scrunching my shoulders up to my neck and closing my eyes.  I feel the exact same way when I am using an emery board to file my nails. This annoying sensation has a name: “grima” which is Spanish for disgust or uneasiness. This term basically describes any feeling of being displeased, annoyed, or dissatisfied someone or something.  It is a feeling that psychologists are starting to pay more attention to as it relates to our other emotions.  Emery boards are traditionally made with cardboard that has small grains of sand adhered to them. It is the sandpaper that I believe makes me filled with grima.  According to studies that are being done around the world, it is not just the feeling that we associate with certain things like nails on a chalkboard or by using emery boards

For My Madness During Migraine Awareness Month

Last weekend as I sat staring at the blank page in front of me, I was still surprised and elated that I had an entire day to myself and unlike past experiences it was filled with what I wanted when I wanted it. There were a few rough moments but when I consider the previous twelve hours (and the days to come) have been better than the last week. Especially this last week even though I had braced myself ahead of time, I just didn’t know I should have braced for a more serious episode. I am a chronic migraine sufferer for so many years I don’t quite remember when they started exactly which is ironic because I can remember every special event they have ruined. I remember plays or dinners I was at where I don’t remember what happened but I could tell you what I felt minute by minute. It amazing how the mind works, especially when it’s operated by a migraine brain. In the last few years, specifically the last few years since I have been going to the Montefiore Headac

For a New Chain of Mexican Fast Food: “Dos Toros Taqueria”

When it comes to fast food there are the names we are familiar with: McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, and Chipotle.  In you live in New York City, there is a new kid in town: Dos Toros.  Dos Toros is relatively new to this area but with any hope there might be one in your town soon.  Started by two brothers, Leo and Oliver Kremer, from Berkeley, California, the Mexican food you find here is inspired by food they loved growing up.  In California, the brothers grew up worshipping Gordo Taqueria, a favorite of Bay Area residents since 1977 (now promptly added to my San Francisco to eat list). Much of the recipes and even decor found at Dos Toros has been modeled on Gordo. Before moving to NYC in 2008, the brothers were living very different lives. Leo was the bassist for the band “Third Eye Blind”. Oliver fresh out of college, considered working in the technology or finance industry. Both disillusioned with their lives, they decided to pursue something they have l